Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Round 3
Chudley Cannons
Chaser 2:Dracula by Bram Stoker: Write about someone having a change of heart, for better or worse.
Optional Prompts:
2. (quote) "I have love in me the likes you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." – Mary Shelly, Frankenstein
3. (season) winter
7. (word) monster
Word Count: 3000
Marry Me?
Snow rested upon the park bench as if it were a feather cushion, soft and warm. It covered the rich deep wood in perfect white, and the newly clothed trees rose as wintry fairytale beings in that pristine landscape.
Ginny shivered, gently brushing the snow off from the bench, beckoning Harry to join her.
Harry shook his head and chuckled nervously. He'd been doing that quite often today, Ginny had observed, and while she had been curious at first, she had later ruled it out as simply Harry being Harry.
She shivered again and rubbed her hands furiously, trying to get some warmth back to her body. If she had known they were coming to Scotland during mid-winter, then she would have prepared more. Or better yet, not come at all.
She blew on her fingers, trying to warm up her fingers as Harry wordlessly shrugged off his jacket, stepped forward, and wrapped it around her.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, taking the jacket off. "You'll be cold."
"No, I won't. You've nothing on, Gin."
"I'm wearing a sweater and a coat. Don't be an idiot, Harry, take the jacket," she urged.
But Harry had that stubborn glint in his eyes, so Ginny huffed in defeat, though she was secretly grateful for another thing to wear.
"Why Scotland?" she asked, a few seconds later. "And why aren't you sitting?"
Harry chuckled again, that same nervous chuckle and Ginny frowned in suspicion.
"Are you breaking it off with me?" she asked, her voice stronger than she felt. If he'd brought her all the way to Scotland to simply tell her that they were over, then frankly she'd … well she'd probably yell.
"What? No!" Harry exclaimed. "That's not the reason. Why would I…" He shook his head then reached into his pocket, slowly bringing out a small box.
Her breath caught in her throat as a humourless chuckle left her lips.
This couldn't be happening.
Ginny hastily got up, Harry's jacket falling off her shoulders. Her heart hammered against her chest, leaving her quite breathless.
Harry scrabbled, sitting down on one knee, and stumbling as he almost fell face-first into the snow.
In other circumstances she'd have laughed as Harry got up on his feet and smiled at her, before he opened the box.
Inside, there was a small silver ring, resting upon blue leather, and engraved with vines running across its length. It was beautiful. If Ginny had seen it in a shop, she'd have marveled at its beauty. Now, however, the ring brought dread, and she could feel the panic threaten to overcome her.
She looked at Harry and spotted the hopeful glint in his eyes as he smiled brightly.
"I think you know where this is going," he said. "Ginevra Molly Weasley, will you marry me?"
Her throat closed up. Ginny panicked, stepping backwards as her mind floated most involuntarily to what he had said.
She struggled to catch her breath as Harry's smile fell, concern replacing his grin.
The world was getting abnormally blurry.
And then Ginny Apparated to the only place she could think of.
Home.
.
.
She landed in a small clearing near her house, her feet buckling as her knees collided with the muddy ground. Her hands reached forward to support herself, and she retched violently, tears of exertion leaking out of her eyes.
A few acres away, she could see the smoke coming out of the chimneys. Her mother's burgundy dress had been hung out to dry and was just clinging to the line, as the chilly winter wind blew through their garden.
Ginny coughed, brushing away the dirt on her fingers. All she could think about was Harry's expectant face, and his huge smile, and all she could register was how badly she had disappointed him.
The thought made her want to heave again, but she refrained, instead choosing to turn away from her house. Even the Burrow seemed to stir dread in her, because all it suddenly reminded her of was the days she had spent locked in her room thinking about him.
"You were foolish to think I'd ever be a friend to someone like you," he said, while Ginny whimpered at his feet.
"Pathetic," he spat, a disgusted sneer on his face.
Ginny closed her eyes, bile rising up her throat at the memory of her lying on the cold, wet floor of the Chamber.
"I trusted you, you monster!" she cried out, "I thought you were my friend. That you understood me. I told you everything!"
"Which only confirmed that you were a despicable wretch," he laughed cruelly, and forced her chin upwards, as his nails dug into her skin. "Fancying Harry Potter, as if! Even he has standards enough to never bow down to scum like you!"
He smirked and watched in evident glee as Ginny sobbed, utterly ashamed of what she had done.
"I wouldn't be so sure though," he said. "Him being the fool he is, there's no guarantee he won't start inclining towards you."
A few tears fell, and Ginny rubbed at them furiously, her mud-caked fingers leaving streaks of dirt on her cheeks.
"But it would all be temporary."
"Ginny?"
Her eyes snapped open as she whirled around, the voice foreign to the one from her memory. Her eyes widened as she saw her youngest big brother standing opposite her, concern etched on his face.
"Ron?" she questioned, as she wiped the dirt off of her face with the sleeve of her coat.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "Why are you crying?"
"I'm not," she said hurriedly. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw you standing out here alone," he answered and then paused. "And don't give me that bull, why have you been crying?"
"I was not," Ginny said fiercely.
A smirk passed on Ron's face, which slowly grew into an impish grin. "Did he ask?" he said, a knowing expression on his face.
"How'd you know?"
"I'm his best friend, of course I know. What did you say?" he asked excitedly, almost jumping from one foot to another.
She stared at Ron for a few minutes, before bursting out crying.
"Ginny, bloody hell!" he exclaimed, before pulling her into a hug. "What happened? What did he do?"
"Nothing," Ginny managed between sobs. "I ran away."
"What?" Ron yelled, "You ran—what, why the hell did you do that?"
Ginny's sobs grew louder as she clutched at Ron's shirt, and his grip around her grew stronger.
"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, panicked. "Ginny, talk to me. What happened?"
"I panicked, and I-I... I didn't know what to do, so I Apparated here."
She could feel Ron frowning, and knew it was a shock for him, seeing her cry like this. She knew he'd expected something more joyous.
"Ginny," he urged. "Ginny, why'd you run?" he asked, keeping his voice level as best he could. He'd gotten good at this, Hermione had told him. But with Ginny, it seemed, everything had been thrown out the window.
Ginny looked at him through watery eyes, half-expecting a confused look she so fondly identified with him. Ron wouldn't understand; this was not his forte.
She was not expecting gentle eyes and as she looked up at him, she realized, not for the first time that somewhere along the way, he had grown up too.
But she just couldn't get herself to say it.
"I don't want to marry him," she choked out finally. "I can't."
Ron frowned, hiding his confusion extremely well. "You don't want to marry Harry Potter," he repeated, more as if convincing himself. "Why?"
"I," she sighed. "I just can't. I... don't want to."
"You don't want to marry him?" he asked incredulously. "Ginny, you do realize that this is the same man you've been in love with for years?"
"I just don't know, Ron," Ginny groaned. "I panicked, and I overreacted, and I-I just fled from the scene."
Ron stared at her for a few minutes, his brows creased in a frown before he hugged her again. Hugging always worked, he'd observed. Most of the time. Ron just hoped that this was one of them.
"You're allowed to overreact," he said, carefully choosing his words. "This is a decision that can affect your entire life, so if anything, you can cry a bit more. Anything that will help."
He winced as Ginny let out a watery sob, and more tears flooded her cheeks.
"You're exceptionally able," he continued, his voice becoming softer. This was his sister he was talking to, and her breaking down was not something normal. Especially about things like this.
"Whatever you decide, believe that it is right."
Ginny tensed, his words setting in her.
What she was deciding now was not right, she knew that but Ginny would not tell him that.
She couldn't.
.
.
They had gone inside after her talk with Ron, and her mum had almost cried seeing her. It had been two months since she had last visited, and her mum had immediately bombarded her with questions, just barely held back by her dad.
She had held on quite well before she saw Harry at the door.
Everything had gone downhill since.
While her mum amicably chatted with Harry, his gaze never left her, his green eyes boring into her face. It was not long before she cracked and immediately excused herself, choosing to go into the fields instead of the safe recluse of her old room.
She heard the small pattering of footsteps behind her and felt her throat closing in panic. There was only one person who would come after her right now, and it was the last person she wanted to see.
"You ran away," Harry said, his voice barely audible over the whistling of the wind.
Ginny turned around and stared at him, her face devoid of emotion for the first time that day.
"Why?" his voice cracked, but there was a touch of desperation in his voice.
"I don't know," she whispered.
"That's not a good enough answer," he said angrily. "Why did you run away, Ginny?"
Ginny stayed quiet, her red hair whipping in the wind. It slashed across her face, pricking against her eyes, but she couldn't get herself to care.
"Is it too early?" Harry spoke over the wind. "Did I do something wrong?"
No, she wanted to yell. He had done everything right. She was the problem and she couldn't be more disgusted with herself. It was impossible to measure how much she loved him, yet now that the time had come to express her feelings, she was coming up with nothing.
Ginny felt the seconds ticking away as she looked at the ground, the white of the snow contrasting against the brown of her boots. She heard footsteps coming over to her and felt a hand resting against her own as Harry lifted her chin and forced her eyes to meet his.
Ginny gasped at the anger-laden sorrow in his eyes, and she pulled back, trying to get away from his piercing gaze.
"Don't run," Harry warned, as Ginny continued pulling. "For Merlin's sake, don't run!" he yelled.
She stopped in her tracks, a tear spilling from her eye.
"I deserve an answer, Gin, please," he begged. "Why?"
A choked sob broke through, and Ginny pushed Harry with all her strength, making him let go of her.
"This won't last," she choked out. "This is temporary, this is not permanent, he told me this wouldn't last!"
The whistle of the wind had become more pronounced, and it whipped around them, numbing the tips of her fingers.
"Who told you?" Harry pressed on. "Goddamnit, Gin, who told you that?"
"Him."
It was probably her voice that sent Harry recoiling, but in that briefest second possible, he knew exactly who she was talking about.
"Riddle," he whispered. "Shit, Gin—"
"There's nothing to talk about," Ginny said. "I can't do this, Harry."
The anger was back now. Harry stepped forward, his fingers wrapping around her forearm to keep her in place.
"Do you realize we've never talked about him, Gin? Never talked about that year?" he said, his voice dangerously low.
"What do you mean? Of course we have."
"Once. When you yelled at me in my fifth year for not asking you how it felt like to get possessed by Voldemort. But that doesn't even…." Harry broke off, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.
Ginny couldn't bear to look at him. So she didn't, instead gazing away at the leafless trees, whose boughs weighed down due to the weight of the snow.
"For two years after, you listened to everything I had to vent about. But not once did you ever talk about him."
"Riddle has nothing to do with this, Harry!" Ginny cried out. "It doesn't matter what he said to me, it's what I choose to believe—"
"Doesn't matter?" Harry bellowed, grabbing her hand. "It matters, Gin, because after all these years, it's still influencing what you do!"
"Riddle has nothing to do with anything in mylife!" Ginny yelled, pulling her hand away.
Harry let go of it, his green eyes, following her erratic breathing and her frenzied steps. "Do you know what he said to me in the Chamber?" he said quietly. "He told me how you poured your heart out to him. He bloody quoted you. That's right, he recited word to word whatever you had written in that damn diary."
"No," Ginny said. "No."
"Have you ever wondered why you're so scared of things lasting? How you always run away when it comes to me?"
"Stop, Harry, please," Ginny begged. "Please, just stop."
"Because I've let you in. I've let you solve all my problems, but when it comes to you, I'm helpless."
The wind whipped around, cold and unrelenting, blowing up billows of snow. Ginny closed her eyes, the cold of the wind creeping along her bones as she shivered, her hands wrapping around her stomach.
After a while, that seemed like ages, Ginny found herself being propelled towards the shed, Harry's hand on the small of her back as she stepped inside the building, welcoming the warmth of the place.
It was another few minutes before Ginny let herself look at Harry, her heart tugging as she saw his pained expression. His green eyes were still stuck on her, and as brown met green, she realized just how torn he was over this.
"I'm sorry," she found herself whispering. "I'm so sorry."
Harry reached forward, his arms wrapping around hers and bringing her closer, until her head was under the crook of his neck and she was safely enveloped in his embrace.
"I'm just scared," she continued, in that same small voice that she'd be ashamed to use in front of anyone else. But this was Harry she was talking to, and he wasn't just anyone.
"When I woke up in the Chamber and saw you, part of me was relieved and part of me was just vying for the time I'd be just Ron's little sister again. Stupid, I know."
"No," Harry said. "Don't ever say that."
Ginny looked up at him and braced herself for the words she'd say next. She'd never admitted it to anyone before, in fear she'd be shunned away for being too petty.
"I think part of me has always been scared that I'll become that small eleven-year-old kid again, who believed in something temporary. And I found myself applying that to everything."
Ginny choked on her words, as she felt the tears break away and start cascading down her cheeks. She'd said one of her worst fears out loud, and it just showed how controlled she still was by that… monster.
She felt Harry's rough fingers brush away the tears on her cheeks as he kissed her forehead, his lips lingering on her skin.
"I don't think you know exactly how much I love you, Ginevra Weasley," he said, cupping her chin and looking directly into her eyes.
Green to Brown.
"And if I didn't have you in my life, I wouldn't know what to do," he said. "You, this," he pointed at each of them, "is the most solid thing I have, and it is not going away anytime soon. I won't let it."
She was still looking at him, her brown eyes streaked with red. It pained him to see her this way, but he needed to get his point across.
And after a long silence, Ginny whispered, her voice raspy from all that crying.
"Okay."
.
.
Spring had come with a gentle spirit, as one who realises that warming up slowly brings the best results to the heart.
Harry's head was on her lap, a ghost of a smile on his lips as Ginny played with the ends of his hair. It had grown out in the last two months, and he hadn't bothered to cut it, so that it now rested just above his neck.
Ginny, needless to say, was not impressed.
"You look like Tarzan," she complained. "Just with black hair."
"You know Tarzan?"
"I have a Muggle-obsessed father," Ginny quipped. She hesitated, her smile off her face in a short second as she continued in a shaky voice. "Marry me, Harry?" she said, anxiety etched on her face.
"What?" Harry's eyes widened and he shot up, gaping at Ginny in disbelief.
"Will you marry me, Harry?"
Disbelief turned to delight as his face broke out in a smile in mere seconds and he kissed Ginny, one hand wrapped around her waist. The other slipped into his jacket pocket, and he brought out a small box, that had been lying untouched for the past two months.
"Only if you marry me, Gin," he said, as he took out the ring.
Ginny's eyes widened and she laughed giddily. "Have you been carrying that ring all this time?"
Harry nodded, smiling at the look of incredulity on Ginny's face.
"Then yes."
Thanks to my teammates Queenie, Hannah, Autumn and Ashleigh for looking over this!